Owners, Philip and Mandy Locke, were so pleased with the changes that in 2002 they visited several performance-recorded studs in the New England, where Mr Locke said they saw some great sheep and some very good operators.

“I always wanted to go to Cressbrook,” he said.

So Cressbrook was included in their trip and they have been buying elite flock rams from there ever since.

These are used in his own ram breeding nucleus to breed replacement rams for their commercial operation.

“There’s a cost in breeding your own rams, but we’ve done it forever and a day, so I have a great system,” he said.

While there might be costs, Mr Locke said it also brought with it cost benefits.

“It gives you greater control in the direction you want your flock to progress,” he said.

“It wouldn’t cost me $600 to $800 a ram to produce these ram lambs each year.”

The Lockes initially aimed to maintain body weight, fertility and fleece weight, while reducing fibre diameter by three to four microns.

The Lockes’ micron is now at 17 to 18 and they have maintained their fleece weight.

“It’s a beautiful wool, which is very pleasing on what we used to have,” Mr Locke said.

He said they were planning to head back to Cressbrook, Armidale, in February to look at some new rams and would visit a few other studs if they got a chance.

See the New England Merino Field Days preview in this week's The Land.